There's Nothing So Bad About Losing Things
"You should head back to your quarters. I'll see you there."
The noblewoman of the Song household, still half in a daze, followed Ju Taek out of the garden.
An Eun-chae, who had been quietly watching the whole affair unfold, finally spoke up. "Will you be all right?"
"Someone who's already soaked doesn't fear the rain."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"...You can't be greedy for things you've never had."
An Eun-chae only tilted her head, still puzzled.
"The family's opinion of me is already rock-bottom, so it can't get any worse, you daft little girl!"
Only then did An Eun-chae burst out laughing. "Look at you, finally growing up. If it were the old you, that pale face of his would've turned even paler by now."
"Thanks to you, I suppose. Honestly, I enjoyed it. That bastard was insufferable. If you hadn't stepped in, I would have."
Somewhere along the way, An Eun-chae had stopped sounding like the daughter of a great house and started talking like an ordinary girl off the street.
"Don't you think you should go see the Grand Madame? Like the guard said?"
"I'm not scared. No need to trouble Grandmother over something like this."
"You've already given her one more thing to worry about."
"Well, if that pig has any shame at all, he'll keep his mouth shut."
Standing nearby, So Rim could no longer hold it in and broke into sobs. "I'm so sorry, young master. This girl has been nothing but a burden to you..."
"Stop."
At Yi Yeok's word, So Rim fought down her tears with all her might.
"If anything, I'm the one who should apologize. But honestly, you did get on my nerves a bit. If I hadn't been there, you'd have just taken those beatings and insults and done nothing about it, wouldn't you? Listen carefully. The idiots of this world will torment you all the more cruelly the more afraid of you they are. Don't cower. Even if it kills you, you have to bite back at least once before you die. If you can't fight them, then poison their teacup, for heaven's sake."
So Rim went pale as if she'd heard something unspeakably horrifying, but she bowed her head and answered, "I will remember your words."
An Eun-chae laughed in sheer disbelief. "I say this every time, but you're genuinely insane. Who in their right mind would call you the rightful heir of a great house?"
"You only live once. No point being shackled to any of it."
"Not everyone can afford to live like that."
"That's what I choose to believe. Honestly, there's nothing so terrible about losing things. Family, clan, honor, convictions, rules..."
Yi Yeok suddenly seemed to remember something and hurriedly added, "Ah — money excluded, of course."
An Eun-chae felt her heart stir without warning.
Raised as a Cultivation Seed, she had dreamed only of a future where she would enter a sect, devote herself to cultivation, and labor for her family's glory and prosperity. She had believed that was simply her destiny, the natural order of things.
And yet in this very moment, a crack had appeared in that belief for the first time.
No — perhaps the crack had been there all along, and meeting Yi Yeok had simply been the first time she'd noticed it.
While An Eun-chae wrestled with her tangled feelings, Yi Yeok spotted a group of people entering the garden at a distance.
"Hah. So Yi Hong has no shame whatsoever."
At Yi Yeok's sneer, An Eun-chae's eyes went wide. Only then did she notice the approaching crowd. At their head strode a middle-aged man, murderous rage written across his face.
"Yi Yeok, you bastard!"
The furious roar echoed across the garden.
"Sorry. The house is a bit loud. Embarrassing to watch, isn't it?"
"No — no, it's not."
An Eun-chae waved her hand, then added in a small voice, "...Every house is like that, really."
For all the ironclad unity they showed the world, most great clans were cesspits of scheming and power struggles. An Eun-chae's own family was no exception. She found herself thinking of her uncle, whom Yi Yeok had stripped of his martial arts.
Yi Yeok's uncle, Yi Lun, came to a stop before them, eyes bloodshot, and bellowed, "Shame of this house! Street thug! How dare you harm my son!"
"Your son? Who's your son, exactly?"
CRASH!
Yi Lun slammed his foot into the ground. The shockwave spread with a thunderous roar, snapping the surrounding trees like twigs. It was a fearsome display of force, but neither Yi Yeok nor even An Eun-chae so much as flinched.
"Trying to play dumb, are you?"
"Oh, that moron was your son? I see it now — like father, like son."
"Insolent wretch! If it weren't for your brother, I'd wring your neck right here!"
Yi Yeok smirked. "Ah, don't worry about his feelings. If you killed me, he'd probably thank you for it."
"You beast...! However much you roamed the streets learning nothing, is that truly how you address an elder of this house?"
Yi Yeok spat at Yi Lun's feet. "Please. An elder? Where do you get off playing the elder when you've never given me so much as a single coin of pocket money? Have you seen how your idiot son carries himself? Make me another one, why don't you?"
Snap. The last thread of Yi Lun's reason broke. The fact that this was his elder brother's son — the rightful heir of the house — vanished utterly in the blaze of his fury.
"I will NOT forgive this!"
Yi Lun unleashed his palm strike.
A monstrous force like a raging tide split into countless strands — every one of them a merciless strike aimed at Yi Yeok's vital points.
In the next instant, Yi Yeok was gone.
At the same moment, the hand that had unleashed the strike vanished too. Blood fountained from the wrist. Yi Lun's scream came a heartbeat late, as shock and pain caught up with him together.
"KUAAAAAGH!"
Yi Yeok reappeared a few paces away, smiling coldly.
"Yep. That pig's father, alright. Even the way he screams is bottom-of-the-barrel."
